Russian tanks and paratroopers took up positions on the Ukrainian border last night as Vladimir Putin rejected pleas from the West to pull back his forces.

The build-up of Russian military hardware and troops heightened fears that a full-scale invasion of Ukraine is imminent.

Exclusive amateur pictures obtained by The Mail on Sunday show tanks, armoured vehicles and multiple rocket-launchers rolling into the Belgorod region in advance of today’s referendum in Crimea which is expected to hand control of the strategically-important Black Sea peninsula to Moscow.

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Military might: Russian tanks roll into the Belgorod region in advance of today's Crimea poll

Show of strength: Russian military personnel gathered close to the Ukrainian border yesterday as tensions continued to increase

Russian troops have seized control of a village in eastern Ukraine in first foray outside of Crimea as protests in support of President Putin take place in Moscow

A spokesman for the Ukrainian border guard service said around 120 Russians took control of a natural gas distribution station in the village of Strilkove, just north of the Crimean border. The Foreign Ministry said the Russian force numbered closer to 80 personnel

There were no reports of injuries or gunfire as Russian forces took over. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry denounced the foray outside Crimea, and said Ukraine 'reserves the right to use all necessary measures to stop the military invasion by Russia'. Pictured is a Russian paramilitary standing guard outside a Crimean town

A Ukranian serviceman guards a check point near the village of Salkovo, in the Kherson region. Ukraine's military deployed aircraft and troops to try and repel an attempt by Russian forces to enter the long spit of land, north of the Crimean border

A Ukranian soldier guards another village in the Kherson region today. The country's defence ministry said an attempt by Kremlin troops to take parts of the area was 'repelled immediately'

Three people have been killed in recent days as tensions escalate in the region ahead of Sunday's referendum to decide if Crimea should move under the control of Russia

In a day of rising tension:

The Kremlin was accused of attempting to rig today’s referendum on the future of Crimea.

Russian paratroopers landed on a spit of land linking eastern Crimea to
the Ukrainian mainland, close to offshore gas platforms which Moscow
wants to keep under its control.

Ukraine’s military scrambled fighter planes and airborne troops to demand their immediate withdrawal.

Ukraine’s acting president said Russian troops massed on his country’s eastern border were ‘ready to invade at any time’.

In
a further indication of the deteriorating situation, a veteran
pro-Western Russian politician warned that a ‘poisonous’ group of
shadowy figures around the country’s President Mr Putin were pressing
for war as a ‘personal fulfilment’.

Former presidential candidate
Grigory Yavlinsky said the stand-off had reached a ‘very dangerous
moment,’ declaring: ‘Fratricide cannot be allowed to happen. For our
people, war with Ukraine is civil war.’

In
Moscow, around 50,000 people took part in a demonstration against
Russian intervention in the affairs of its neighbour.

Marchers carried
placards comparing Mr Putin’s actions to the Nazi annexation of the
Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia just before the outbreak of the
Second World War.

Tensions in the fractious east of Ukraine are high ahead of a vote on the future of Crimea tomorrow. Here pro-Russians try to storm a government security building in Donetsk

Last night
there were reports of Russian secret service agents cautioning locals
not to speak about military movements in their areas.

Moscow
extended its grip on Ukraine by sending in paratroopers to occupy more
territory outside Crimea, which is already effectively under its
control.

Ukrainian activists claimed evidence had emerged of attempted
fraud in today’s referendum, in which the people of the strategically
vital Black Sea peninsula will be asked whether they want to secede from
Kiev-ruled Ukraine and join the Russian federation.

The
answer is expected to be overwhelmingly in favour, but a photograph
published by a local news agency appeared to show piles of ballot papers
marked ‘Yes’ at least 24 hours before the polling stations were due to
open.

In the eastern
Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, two men, aged 20 and 31, were killed in
clashes involving pro-Russian demonstrators, in which both sides used
firearms.

Tensions have also spread to Moscow where thousands of demonstrators have gathered to oppose Putin's plans to take control of Crimea

Pro-Russian supporters have also taken to the streets of Moscow in larger number than in Ukraine

Thousands of pro-Russia demonstrators have gathered in Donetsk today ahead of a vote tomorrow which is expected to annex Crimea to Russia

Two men have been shot dead in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight when pro-Russian demonstrators tried to storm the headquarters of a Ukrainian nationalist organisation

The killings of a protester and passerby bring the total number of deaths in Ukraine to three in two days after another activist was fatally stabbed in Donetsk on Thursday

It came a day after fighting between rival groups in Donetsk,
another mainly Russian-speaking city.

Ukrainian
interior minister Arsen Avakov accused allies of ousted, Moscow-backed
president Viktor Yanukovych of financing the unrest with the support of
‘extremist Russian forces’.

Mr
Avakov issued a dramatic appeal on Facebook to his compatriots, saying:
‘Don’t let them manipulate you! Stop this hysteria. This isn’t a game
of toy soldiers. This is a real conflict and people’s real lives.’

In
Moscow, a Foreign Ministry official said the arrest in Kharkiv of
people he described as ‘neo-fascist militants’ must be followed by wider
action to ‘neutralise and punish rampant extremists’.

Meanwhile in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, members of the electoral commission prepare voting booths

A referendum tomorrow is expected to overwhelmingly back passing control of Crimea to Russia

However US Secretary of State John Kerry made it clear yesterday that America and the West will not recognise the outcome of the vote, saying it violates international law

Tens of thousands of activists gathered inside Russia both supporting and opposing Putin's actions in Crimea

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday that Putin will not make a decision over Ukraine until after tomorrow's vote

Mr Putin’s aides
have repeatedly said that Russia has a duty to protect Russian speakers
in Ukraine.

But the
pro-Western government in Kiev insists they are in no danger and that
Moscow is looking for an excuse to send in troops as a prelude to the
absorption of the entire country into the Russian Federation.

There
was renewed violence in Donetsk last night as around 3,000 protesters
besieged a government building and flew the flag of a banned
anti-Ukrainian organisation.

In
a significant escalation of the rhetoric, a Foreign Ministry spokesman
in Moscow said: ‘Russia is receiving numerous appeals to protect
peaceful civilians. These appeals will be addressed.’

THE ROAD TO REFERENDUM: CRIMEA'S POPULATION FACE TWO CHOICES

The Ukrainian region of Crimea will vote on Sunday in a hastily organized referendum, whether to break away and join Russia, in defiance of broad condemnation from the international community, which has described the process as illegitimate.

Moscow-backed politicians in Crimea, a territory populated by two million people, say the move will ensure the local population protection from radical nationalism that they say surged after President Viktor Yanukovych was forced to flee Ukraine.

No immediate proof of specific threats has been produced, however, and the leadership in Kiev describes what is happening in Crimea as a crude land grab. THE ROAD TO REFERENDUM Ukraine's territorial woes have their roots in the protests that led to the downfall of Yanukovych, who enjoyed support from the Kremlin and had his base of support in the mainly ethnic Russian-populated southeast.

The demonstrations began in November when Yanukovych abruptly refused to sign a long-anticipated political association and free trade agreement with the European Union, opting instead for closer ties with Russia.

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was forced to flee the Ukraine last month

Weeks of peaceful rallies were punctured by bursts of violence, which culminated with the death of dozens of protesters in late February.

A peace deal between the government and opposition was overseen by EU diplomats, but that arrangement was overtaken within days when protesters took control of the capital, Kiev, and police abandoned posts.

The parliament voted to remove the president from power and soon appointed a replacement.

An early proposal in the new parliament that would have seen the status of the Russian language downgraded was greeted with alarm in some parts of the country.

Russia has also loudly expressed indignation over what they claim is the inexorable rise of radical nationalist groups, a concern that critics suggest is an exercise in disingenuousness.

THE CAMPAIGNThe referendum ballot will feature two questions: One, to grant Crimea greater autonomy within Ukraine.

The other, which is widely expected to secure the bulk of support, envisions annexation by Russia.

What little actual campaigning there's been in Crimea has taken place under the often menacing gaze of local militia forces, as well as heavily armed troops under apparent command from Moscow.

An armed serviceman, believed to be Russian, stands guard outside a Ukrainian military base in Perevalnoye, near the Crimean capital of Simferopol

In the face of overwhelming evidence, Russia denies it has deployed any troops.

The pro-annexation message has been crude but effective, and is aimed at instilling alarm over the new Ukrainian government's purported design to marginalize the country's ethnic Russian population.

One billboard showed two maps of Crimea: one emblazoned in the tricolor of the Russian flag. The other shows it against a crimson background and stamped with a swastika.

Supporters of the referendum have argued it is little different from the independence vote to take place in Scotland later this year.

But British officials argue the latter vote has been two years in the waiting and is being held in a climate of free discussion. Crimeans have had less than two weeks to ponder on their referendum and public debate has been notable for its absence.

THE FUTURE Crimean authorities say if Ukrainian soldiers resolutely occupying their garrisons don't surrender after the election, they will be considered 'illegal'.

On the diplomatic front, Russia looks ever more isolated as it faces the prospect of sanctions from Western nations and the ambivalence of China.

Leaders of the mainly Muslim Crimean Tatar minority, who make up more than one-tenth of the region's population, insist they want to remain part of Ukraine and worry about what fate awaits them in a country they have no desire to join.

Inside Russia, President Vladimir Putin has fared well from his hard-line stance on Crimea and enjoyed a bump in popularity ratings.

Still, if public criticism of his policies is rare, it is in no small part because the already embattled independent media has faced a renewed onslaught of state-led intimidation. THE REMAINDER OF UKRAINEOnce Crimea's pro-Russian leadership seals some vague semblance of legitimacy through the referendum, attention will likely swing to eastern Ukraine, another heavily Russian-populated area in which the central government is struggling to stamp its authority.

The past few days have seen ugly confrontations between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainians, and anxieties are stirring about the potential for that situation to worsen.

A national presidential election set for May 25 is seen by the interim authorities as an opportunity to restore democratic processes in a country currently run by an interim post-revolutionary Cabinet.

Perceptions of an uncertain security situation could undermine confidence in what that vote produces, however.

As tensions escalated in their home
nation, the Ukrainian paralympic team competing in Sochi on the last day
of the Paralympic Games chanted the slogan of Kiev's Independence
Square.

'Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the heroes' rang from a group of Ukranian athletes posing for
photographs after claiming the silver medal in the cross country relay
event.

Ukranian athlete Olena Iurkovska pictured with President Putin and her silver medal. Athletes covered their medals in silent protest at the turmoil engulfing their country

The proud team of 31
said early on in the Games that they would stay to compete promoting
the message of peace, despite Russia's intervention in Ukraine's Crimea
peninsula.

While delighted
at their sporting successes, which secured their team an overall third
place, the athletes said it had been difficult to watch the unravelling
crisis back home.

'It
was very sad, very difficult to train and compete when in your country
such terrible events are happening,' said Olena Yurkovska, as she held
her silver medal for the relay.

The
last time she was at home in the Kiev region was four months ago, she
said, before the start of protests on Maidan, or Independence Square,
that eventually led to a hundred deaths and ultimately a regime change
in the country.

The team denounced the referendum on whether Crimea should be annexed by Russia, which is due to take place on Sunday.

'We just hope that everything turns out okay in Ukraine,' said visually impaired skier Oksana Shishkova, from Kharkiv.

'The main thing is that nobody touches us. Ukraine is Ukraine, and Crimea is ours. We are a little country as it is,' she said.

Ukraine considered boycotting the Paralympic Games earlier this month.

But
the head of the country's Paralympic Committee, Valery Sushkevich met
with Putin on March 6, later announcing, just hours before the opening
ceremony, that the team would compete.

Sushkevich met with Putin for the second time on Saturday, one day before the closing ceremony.

'By covering the medal, the athlete shows that peace in his country is important to him'- Valery Sushkevich, head of the Ukranian Paralympic Committee

He said the 10-day Games had
proved challenging for the national team as athletes wanted to protest
at Russia's intervention, but had to abide by strict rules of the
International Paralympic Committee, which had warned against any
political demonstrations.

But
the team decided athletes would cover their medals with the palms of
their hands at awards ceremonies, to protest against the turmoil
engulfing their country.

'By covering the medal, the athlete shows that peace in his country is important to him,' he said.

'Because
unfortunately the medal was produced by and is being awarded by the
host country who acted as an aggressor toward his country.

'It's a demonstration that aggression and the high ideals of paralympic sports are incompatible.'

Mr Sushkevich said the political situation had taken its toll on some of the younger athletes, affecting their performance.

SPECIAL REPORT: I watch exodus on the eve of a referendum that has only one answer, writes Ian Birrell

Sweating in the spring sun, it took Sergei several trips to load all his bags and belongings on to the huge blue and white train.

His wife Liubov tried to calm one of their young children who was screaming, while a second child stood watching beside their small dog.

Finally, Sergei folded up a pushchair and with a quick glance towards a gang of pro-Russian militia in red armbands, boarded for Kiev.

Crimeans do not have the option to stay with Ukraine - do they support joining Russia or do they support Crimea being independent?

‘When guns are pointed at you and your family, it does not feel wise to stay,’ said the hotel manager from Sudak, on the Crimean coast.

The family is fleeing the region following the Russian invasion and anticipated annexation, fearful of the future and potential for conflict. ‘We are being forced to become Russians,’ said Sergei, 40.

‘I worry for Crimea – there will be nothing here.’

He is not alone. With flights cancelled to everywhere except Moscow, the railway station has seen scores of these sad scenes in recent days as men send their families to safety.

On Friday, I found oil company executive Vasyl waving off his wife and two children for the long trip across Ukraine to Lviv.

‘I wish I was not standing here,’ he said. ‘I have lived in Crimea for ten years and we have never had any problems. But now my children are being abused and I don’t like it.’

He spoke in Ukrainian – unusual these days on Simferopol’s streets, since such speakers say they are being threatened.

So when would his family be returning? ‘If Crimea goes to Russia they will not come back,’ he said.

‘And I will have to go also.’

Sadly for Vasyl and many like him, the region does seem set to join Russia after a sham referendum set to be held today under the sinister shadow of an invading army.

Indeed, even as Vasyl’s family boarded the train, a vast new Russian flag was being unfurled in front of the supposedly independent Crimean parliament ahead of the ballot.

Although the voting paper contains two questions, it does not offer Crimeans the option to remain Ukrainian but asks them to choose from one of two other options.

'The only people who will bother to vote want to join Russia,' says Ukraine-speaking Crimean man Vasyl

Firstly, it asks: ‘Do you support joining Crimea with the Russian Federation as a subject of Russia?’

And secondly: ‘Do you support restoration of the 1992 Crimea Constitution, and Crimea’s status as part of Ukraine?’

The wording is clever since the 1992 constitution originally sought by all pro-Russian militants stated that Crimea is independent and not part of Ukraine.

A reference to autonomy within Ukraine was inserted later at the behest of Kiev. So supporting option two is actually backing enhanced independence and the puppet government that would ensure this is under Russia.

‘I will not vote – there is no point,’ said Mikhail Melnikov, a 28-year-old charity worker. ‘The only people who will bother are those who want to join Russia.’

Many in the Ukrainian minority that makes up almost a quarter of Crimea’s population say they will leave.

‘Yesterday, a woman who works for me called and said she could not come to work,’ said Oleg, the owner of a thriving agricultural business.

‘She had left and gone to Donetsk with her two children.’

Now Oleg, who spent three years of his life fighting for the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, says he will follow suit.

Families are fleeing to avoid what they claim will be a form of oppression in Russia-run Crimea

‘They have poisoned this place for us,’ he told me, as his two daughters arrived home from school.

‘Of course it would be very difficult to leave because we have a business, money in the bank, a nice home – but we will leave if the Russians take over even if we lose everything.’

Like many in Crimea, he has strong ties of family and friendship that cross borders. ‘But these are not the Russians we love – they are occupants of our country,’ he said.

Galina Kiselyova, a 46-year-old paediatrician and mother-of-four, said she knew 15 families planning to leave.

She has seen critics of Russia assaulted in the street and has been harassed at home by gangs of youths seeking her teenage daughter, a political activist.

‘I work with 200 children with HIV and it will be very hard to leave them,’ she said. ‘But if Crimea joins Russia, the only ones who will stay are those without the money to leave.

‘I don’t want to live in Russia but this vote has been decided already. It will ruin Crimea and a lot of my acquaintances are very scared – no one asked our opinion before bringing in these troops.’

Her daughter Valentina, 18, a student doctor who has been attacked at a protest, joined a 500-strong underground self-defence group.

Its activities include stockpiling body armour and medical supplies in case of conflict and disseminating anti-Russian leaflets during the night.

'If Crimea joins Russia, the only people who will stay are those without the money to leave'

‘I am not afraid because I love my country,’ she said. ‘I want to live in Ukraine. But if there is nothing we can do I will leave too.’

Andrey Yegorov was born in the Russian Urals yet joined a pro-Ukrainian demonstration last week. ‘I want Crimea to remain with Ukraine,’ he said. ‘No one is thinking about the repercussions. We are all afraid of war.’

Bizarrely, I have discovered that Moscow is carrying out market research into its incursion – which must surely be a first in the annals of invasion.

All sides in Crimea are trying hard to avoid rash actions that could spark bloodshed but many Tartars – a Muslim minority deported by Stalin 70 years ago – are terrified by life under Russia.

And the biggest concerns are over the roving bands of samoobrona – pro-Russian militia – that sprung up after the invasion.

I spoke to the commander of one unit of 15 samoobrona standing outside the Ministry of Finance.

A builder by trade, Igor admitted he had received no training and said the force – just three weeks old – was already 2,500-strong in Simferopol alone.

He claimed to be guarding the city against ‘fascists’ and ‘provocateurs’ – and said that they would stay as long as they were needed. ‘Little boys have come up to thank us for keeping them safe,’ he added with a smile.

But as he talked, an elderly woman in a woolly hat and stained coat approached us.

‘Who are you protecting us from?’ she asked, ignoring his attempts to push her away.

‘I don’t see any of these provocations you all talk about.’

There are none, of course, but it is almost certainly too late.

Vladimir Putin and his stooges are finalising their seizure of Crimea today and there seems little that Ukraine or its Western allies are able or willing to do to stop it.

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Proof Russia is about to invade? Pictures reveal tanks and troops on Ukrainian border